


let it burn

by petulantbitch



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Juno Steel Needs a Hug, Lovers To Enemies, POV Peter Nureyev, Pining, Sorry Not Sorry, post hotel room pre carte blanche, villain peter nureyev au, yet another self-indulgent fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:13:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24728761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petulantbitch/pseuds/petulantbitch
Summary: That's beside the point, however. No one just up and leaves Peter Nureyev. Especially once I trust them with my life- not even Juno can get away with that. He chose his city over me, and I might as well burn it to the ground to show him how wrong he chose. It'll be fun, and maybe when it's all over he'll come running back to me.After all, I'll be the only thing left.--Or, my brain decided to torture me with the idea of Peter Nureyev going full bad guy after Juno left him, so you all get to suffer with me.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel, Rita & Juno Steel
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Hell Hath No Fury

I suppose you could call it ironic. How he left me, slipping away in the middle of the night while I slept. After all, it's usually what I did to the various people I used to complete my jobs. I wonder if it hurt this much for them.

It really shouldn't hurt this much. I shouldn't have let my guard down like I did. The idea of love was just… too appealing to pass up. It was foolish, of course. I have debts to pay off, and I have to stay alive. Juno was too much of a risk, and he was a risk I took. I shouldn't have taken it. 

But the beautiful lady with a rough exterior was too… too important for me. I can't even explain why. And now he's left me a wreck. I spent a good few minutes crying when I woke up alone. I never cry. I haven't cried since Mag… 

That's beside the point, however. No one just up and leaves Peter Nureyev. Especially once I trust them with my life- not even Juno can get away with that. He chose his city over me, and I might as well burn it to the ground to show him how wrong he chose. It'll be fun, and maybe when it's all over he'll come running back to me.

After all, I'll be the only thing left.


	2. Enter Aster King... Kind of.

It’s been a few months since I left him, and I still feel guilty about it. But honestly, Hyperion City isn’t something I think I could leave behind. Not to mention Rita, Mick, and everyone else here I’d even remotely consider my friend. So here I am; a p one-eye with trouble shooting straight, and even more trouble getting and solving cases. 

Until this morning. Rita got a call a little bit after she came into the office this morning, from someone by the name of Cassius Crow. I have a pretty good feeling that it’s a fake name, but he claimed to have a missing person’s case. And he offered a rather large payment upfront, so who am I to say no to that? The strangest thing is that he refuses to meet with me in person, insisting that we stick to coms calls. But he already gave me a massive amount of information- or, rather, gave Rita a pretty large amount of information that she wrote down for me. 

Well, she drew it all down for me, and then read it back for me to write down in normal people words, because I don’t necessarily speak Rita doodle. But hey, I got the information and that’s something.

So I’m looking for someone by the name of Aster King- described as tall, lanky, dark brown hair, in his mid-30s (exact age unspecified due to “privacy reasons”), and an “impeccable fashion sense.” To go along with this not-super-specific description is a much more detailed account of when Cassius Crow last saw his friend. It’s at least several pages long but goes through a visit to Vixen Valley, and a night out drinking at a bar in Oldtown. Specifically the Pour N’ Floor. Which is a little upsetting, because I very much did not want to pay a visit there anytime soon. Or at all, honestly. But if it’s where the job takes me, it’s where the job takes me. I will be going to see Vicky first- She’ll probably be a little easier to stomach, considering we’re friends. Sort of. 

“Rita!” I called, shrugging my coat on. “I’m going to head over to Vixen Valley for the Aster King case- Do you want to come with me?” Peaking out the door of my office, I see her face redden a little as she shakes her head.

“No, Boss, I think I’m good right here! Just call me if you need anything, alright Mistah Steel? I’ll be right here, watching my streams. And doing work of course-” Grinning at me, Rita popped a handful of whatever bright pink puffs she was holding into her mouth and turned back to her stream. “You should get goin’ though, the commercials are over and I don’t wanna miss any of this!”

I rolled my eyes and headed out the door. “You and those streams,” I muttered, shaking my head as I closed the door behind me. 

\----------------------

Once at Vixen Valley, I was greeted by a few familiar faces- people I’d met while working here, and people I spent some time with before working here. That sums up a good majority of everyone who works for Vicky, so it wasn’t a big surprise. Angelle was the one who brought me up to Vicky’s office, a little more flirty than she should have been as we walked, touching my shoulder and giggling at nothing. I usually wouldn’t mind, I just wasn’t particularly interested, or in the mood. 

“Juno. I’ve been told you need my help on yet another case. I would like to let you know that as fun as it was last time I helped you, I will not be doing it again- I’m staying right here. I’ll answer some questions, help the best I can, but setting foot outside of the Valley with you seems to be a death sentence, so I plan on doing my best to avoid it.” She folded her hands on the desk in front of her as I sat down. 

“That’s fair. I just wanted to come by and see if you had anyone by the name of Aster King or Cassius Crow come by three days ago. Or even just a list of people who were working then-” I picked at my fingers, nails pulling back my already ragged cuticles. “One of those two disappeared the night they showed up, and I just want to see if anyone noticed him acting strangely. Well, more strangely than any customer of yours, of course.” That last bit was meant as a joke, but Vicky didn’t laugh. Instead, she rolled her eyes and reached into a drawer, pulling out a rather thick file folder. Flipping through, I saw dates and names on each one- seemingly both customers and employees. Pulling out a small packet of stapled papers, she slid it across the desk towards me.

“Here. It’s a list of everyone who paid for services three days ago and everyone who was working that night. The employees all have comms numbers by their names, so it should be easy to get in touch with them. I hope that helps because honestly, that’s all I’m willing to do for you. Have a good night Juno.” She flashed a smile, and I stood, walking out her door as she pulled out her comms. That was a lot easier than I thought it would be, honestly. A lot less painful too. But now I have something to go off of, and I might not even have to step floor into the Pour N’ Floor again. That’s the ideal way for this case to go.

\----------------------

“Alright, let’s see… There’s Hayden Rike, Reneta Marton… Aha, there we go. Aster King. No Cassius Crow though, which I expected. It looks like he was with… Tomas Arcturus. That’s a name I actually do not recognize. Guess I’ll give him a call.” I pulled out my coms and dialed the number. After a few seconds, Tomas picked up. 

“Hello? Who is this?” He sounded a little apprehensive, which was fair enough.

“Juno Steel, private eye? I’m working on a missing person’s case at the moment, and the records Vicky gave me say that you were with him at the Valley the night he disappeared. His name’s Aster King?”

“Hmm..” Tomas paused, most likely to think. “Yeah, him. Name sounds familiar, I think I remember.”

“Great. I don’t suppose you noticed anything weird about him? Anything abnormal?” I picked up a pen and prepared to jot down anything he says.

“Eh, not really? He was a little more confident than your average Joe- and he seemed rather disinterested after the first 5 minutes, which I guess you could say is unusual. Seemed like he was thinking about something else the whole time I talked to him. Tipped well though, so I can hardly complain. He really went missing?”

“Yeah. Unless there’s anything else, I think we’re done. Thank you for the information, I appreciate it.” With that, I ended the call, setting my comms down. The disinterest might be something, he could have been worrying about something, but it won’t help me solve the case. Which means I’m going to have to go to the Pour N’ Floor- that’ll be interesting. 

...Maybe I’ll just send Rita. That might be better. The last time I went didn’t go too well, and I don’t feel like reopening old wounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this jumps around a little, so I apologize for that!!!


End file.
